Aurangzeb Movie Review

Like most Hindi movies, AURANGZEB suffers from the curse of the second hour syndrome, for the film languishes and fumbles soon after the intermission. There are too many issues, frankly. First and foremost, the drama loses sheen as it proceeds. Two, the drama seems never-ending and with too many characters and too many things happening in the movie, what comes across is a hodgepodge. Even the culmination fails to give you a high. Adding to the woes is its lethargic pacing! On the whole, AURANGZEB has a great premise, but great plots don't, generally, translate into great films. This one's way too lengthy and mediocre [second hour] to leave any kind of an impression whatsoever. Disappointing!

But at its heart, Aurangzeb is about family dominated by a parent-son theme. Blood and ambition, the film often reminds us, are the choices the characters of Aurangzeb have before them.And while the movie succeeds at a thematic level, it falters with the details. Critical plot points are weakly executed. While the ambition of Aurangzeb is to be lauded, there just isn't enough steam to see it through till the end. And at well over two hours, that end seems very far off. Try it then, for its complexity and Kapoor and Shroff.

Aurangzeb is a plot that resorts to the 70s formula - family drama, illegitimate son, twins separated at birth and similar domestic dilemma. Unfortunately, while the 70s storyline demanded melodrama, the treatment here is very contemporary and the drama is largely subtle and underplayed. And in this unusual and seemingly incompatible fusion, Aurangzeb loses its authorityAurangzeb had the potential to be a much better film. Alas it only comes across as a TV serial, sans the melodrama!

What lends its sentimentality a crooked twist is how its premise is relentlessly influenced by the cutthroat philosophy of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Director Atul Sabharwal tackles the conflicting interests of conscience and conditioning with his robustly executed first film for Yash Raj. Deeply derivative of the traditional Hindi film narrative where blood-ties gain precedence over individual turbulence, Aurangzeb works even in its inept form. Because, one, Sabharwal constructs a compelling, intricate conspiracy of deceit and motive around predominantly grey characters, where chances are anyone can turn a volte face, for better or worse.And because Aurangzeb’s momentum is steady and swift, the loopholes are skilfully minimised even if only temporarily

Atul Sabharwal’s story and screenplay are long-drawn and convoluted. They are also so confusing that the audience has to actually make an effort to remember things. There are a number of unbelievable and ill-timed twists and turns in the drama, adding to the implausible factor in the story.On the whole, Aurangzeb lacks the basic ingredient of a commercial film – entertainment value. It is a dull, dry, convoluted and boring drama narrated at a slow pace. Its box-office performance will be dull. Business in multiplexes will be below the mark while in single-screen cinemas, it will be ordinary.

Somewhere in the too-complicated strands of Aurangzeb is a film struggling to cohere. This is what we have : too many subplots with threads hanging, criss-crossing a main plot that is over baked and undercooked.Aurangzeb is trying for too much. This makes the film dense and uneven: some parts have power, the others are inert.

What’s Good: A well scripted story and a few mind-blowing performances! What’s Bad: The film’s tedious length and poor editing. Watch or Not?: Aurangzeb is a film that lacks vision and deliberately botches up a good script. The film for the entire first part managed to grip on the thrill factor well. By the climax, it converts into a convoluted and repulsive mess. Arjun Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Jackie Shroff thankfully manage to infuse in well framed performances making it a manageable watch.

Sabharwal does go weak and faulty in certain areas, but his efforts are indeed worth applause. It is never easy to fictionalise tales of corruption and gangsters on the silver screen. The dialogues are apt and have the right amount of punch that is required. The film keeps you intrigued until the very end, but the climax does give a fair idea about what would draw the curtains down.Nonetheless, the ensemble cast will lift the credibility of the film even higher with its performance. ‘Aurangzeb’ is a film worth a watch for all its complexities!

The recurrence of events and people in the climax is the biggest shortcoming of the film. The spontaneity of the story finishes at least 15 minutes before the actual finish, and it doesn't look very fitting after a nice build up. Overall, 'Aurangzeb' is a fun thriller with a racy first half and a dragged climax. It's not devoid of any essential ingredient of a 'masala' film and you can watch it for depicting the dark underbelly of the illegal land deals.

However, you have to be patient with Aurangzeb as it takes a while before the storyline actually starts moving. The first half is strong, but the climax and focus on the family ties and relationship dilutes the hardcore gangster flick that it set out to be. Dialogues are sharp, but scenes between Arjun and his mother, or his relationship with Jackie are lengthy and ramble on beyond a point. Also, Sabharwal gives away too much too soon making the climax fall flat. Watch Aurangzeb for some stellar performances lead by Arjun Kapoor and a solid supporting cast.

Visit Site for moreRatings:--Review By:Sneha May FrancisSite:Emirates24By7

Imagine being armed with some of the finest performers and a killer story that weaves them all in delightfully, yet dishing out something that’s shockingly mediocre. Even though his ‘Aurangzeb’ flaunts its share of strong performances and a storyline that shocks and thrills along the way, yet it falters and fumbles in so many ways, leaving us shockingly disappointed. ‘Aurangzeb’ centres around a top cop as he shadows real estate tycoon Yashwardhan to uncover his unlawful life. Call it his overenthusiasm or his lack of cinematic wisdom, Atul attempts to say a (whole) lot in two-hours-and-twenty-minutes. ‘Aurangzeb’ is unforgivably half-baked and falls short of being a classic. What it does pack is some stellar performances and a promise of better movies in the future

Double-role thrillers aren't new to Bollywood but sure, we haven’t seen much in recent. So, in that scenario, Atul Sabharwal’s AURANGZEB does succeed in creating curiosity as what shape this effort is going to take and how! Taking cues and clues from much-enjoyed masala double-role entertainers, Atul positively takes the ‘what not to do’ route in creating a thoroughly engaging gangster-police nexus set in the concrete jungles of Gurgaon where land-mafia, real-estate dominants, cops, politicians tussle over either gaining the supreme power to rule the city or getting their hands dirty on big time illegal money flowing allover.

DCP Ravikant [the impeccable-the inimitable Rishi Kapoor shocks you with his powerful presence in each segment] digs out a forgotten past to find a twin brother of the son [both played by Arjun Kapoor] whose father is supposedly an uncrowned emperor in dark-world of illicit businesses covered in real-estate silk. The twin brother is now planted in his brother’s spot to help the ruthlessly ambitious DCP in destroying his own father’s empire…but as the title itself suggests the characteristics of the story; do not trust anybody in this brutal game of power & control.

The best things about AURANGZEB are the performances, its ‘fits right in the place’ cast & dialogues that are fresh, meaningful & engaging, even the screenplay gives you an earthy-real location atmosphere to hold but the problem here lies in the story that never comes with a ‘new/ fresh arrival’ tag to it. So, most of the times at your back of mind, you would know what’s coming up next. Another problem is the momentum, things happen at a breathless speed. At first, you might find that exhilarating enough to be in an ‘on edge of the seat’ situation but sooner or later, you become unbothered about ‘too fast to furious’ twists in the tale and gets yourself settled into the backrest mode.

At best, it is a thriller with good performances [Prithviraj for instance] that gets its emotions right but the lack of freshness & a sloppy climax kills the thrill. Watch out if you don’t have much to do this weekend, otherwise wait for it to reach you rather than you rushing to theaters near you.[2.5/5]

Hii.. Gaurav, I follow Rajeev Masand's review as a movie critic before going for any movie But I feel as a viewer your ratings are the most reliable... Keep up the great job.. ***** 5 stars for the job.. Keep it up..

There are many cheap ppl we have here who can reach to their level successfully all the time..Gandu wow what a language.Gaurav bhai, I dont consider your review as last reviews as we have the best and that is one and only Mr. Masand and I always check his rating and then go to movie, but hats off to you bro

thanks sir! i know i can never compete with such notable names in the field but then if even there is just one person who thinks likewise and takes cues from my writing to take a valuable decision for movie-watching, i would be happy to help. And more to it, i am doing it for myself to understand cinema better. people here are mostly ignorant of the craft and i forgive them...for their kindest word ;)

what hurts me most that even the admin dont take bold steps to prevent this place from being worst for cinema lovers.

Is it that most of the registered reviewers Like adarsh, Sukanya Raja Sen(OMG) go to a movie expecting something and rather than to enjoy it, just give their "EXPERT ADVICE/OPINION" which is largely biased, OR am I wrong in my belief and they are genuine reviewers. Please put your comments...

GOOD - The ensemble cast of veterans (you don't usually see Rishi Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Deepti Naval, Tanvi Azmi, Amrita Singh under one roof); some extremely good performances (Rishi Kapoor, Prithviraj); the old-style rivalry story in a new refined package; some thrills. BAD - The tempo (linear graph); the dull screenplay and long duration makes a viewer disinterested very easily; not a great story-line; some parts are insensible; too many characters.FINAL WORD - This YRF debut film of Atul Sabharwal looked promising but fails to impress even after it has some inspiration from classics like DEEWAR, TRISHUL and DON. Watch it if you're free for nothing.

http://www.rajatnarulafilmpreview.blogspot.in/2013/05/preview-aurangzeb.html , this is my preview of the movie 4 days before the release date. I would stick to my comments and gut feel for this movie, cheers !!!